Public Invited to Forum on Proposed San Gabriel National Recreation Area

The public is invited to a September 5 forum with Rep. Judy Chu, D-Pasadena, to discuss a proposal to turn areas of the San Gabriel Mountains into a National Recreation Area to be run by the National Park Service.

The proposal would bring federal management to a lot of local open space and could bring new federal funding. 

A study on the details of what areas to include in the National Recreation area was completed in April.

The map above, from the Park Service's draft proposal, shows the proposed area in the dotted yellow category - it includes mostly foothill areas while leaving the Angeles National Forest out of the new National Recreation area.  The full proposal can be read here.

According to the San Gabriel Valley Tribune, some local San Gabriel Valley officials are opposed to the plan as it is because it leaves out the Angeles National Forest, which some feel would limit the number of opportunities for new trails and other federal resources that would come from being managed by the Park Service, rather than the U.S. Forest Service.

Chu, who represents Arcadia, has said that the public should weigh in further on the proposal before the decision is finalized.

The public forum will be at the Arcadia Chamber of Commerce Government Affairs Forum at 388 W. Huntington Drive at 8 a.m. on September 5.

The meeting will also include a discussion of pending legislation and other updates from representatives of city, county and state government offices, the Metro Gold Line Foothill Extension and the Monrovia-Arcadia-Duarte Town Council.